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| Season | Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · Hearthome City: the Contest & the Tag Battle arc (DP048–DP052) |
| Episode | Season 10, episode 51 · English episode 515 · Japanese episode 519 · Bulbapedia code DP052 |
| English title | Smells Like Team Spirit! |
| Japanese title | タッグバトル！ファイナル！！ Taggu Batoru! Fainaru!! — “Tag Battle! Final!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 25 October 2007 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 February 2008 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Tēma~ (By Your Side ~Hikari’s Theme~), Winter Version – Grin |
| English opening | Diamond and Pearl – Chris “Breeze” Barczynski |
| Previous episode | Glory Blaze! (DP051) |
Plot episodeAsh catches ChimcharAsh & Paul win the Tag Battle
Smells Like Team Spirit! is the 51st episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 515th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 519, Bulbapedia code DP052). It first aired in Japan on 25 October 2007 and in the United States on 1 February 2008. It falls within the season’s Hearthome City: the Contest & the Tag Battle stretch (EP48–EP52).
The season finale, premiered on Friday 1 February 2008 as the last part of a 90-minute special. Its 99-day gap from the Japanese broadcast was the shortest of any dubbed episode until BW108, and it is the last episode recorded at TAJ Productions. Cartoon Network reran DP028–DP052 in an all-day marathon on 24 February 2008 before the premiere of The Rise of Darkrai.
Synopsis
Paul coldly tells Ash and Chimchar that they deserve each other and walks away. Just as Chimchar starts to accept Ash’s offer, Team Rocket’s Carnivine and Cacnea pin down the friends while the trio carry Chimchar off in their balloon, but Chimchar’s Flamethrower sends the balloon plummeting. Ash catches the falling Chimchar and repeats his invitation, and when he holds out a Poké Ball, Chimchar taps the button itself and is caught without a struggle. That night Professor Oak is delighted with the news but reminds Ash that he and Paul must still cooperate to win the tournament. In the semi-final against Brock and Holly, Torterra’s Hyper Beam blows away Farfetch’d and grazes Staravia, and Croagunk’s Brick Break catches the recharging Torterra, but Torterra’s Leaf Storm knocks Croagunk out in one hit as Paul refuses Ash’s help.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy tells a crestfallen Brock that Holly was too upset by the defeat to stay and has gone off to train on her own, leaving him heartbroken once again. The final pits Ash and Paul’s Chimchar and Elekid against Dawn and Conway’s Buizel and Heracross. Buizel cancels Flamethrower with Aqua Jet, and Heracross absorbs Elekid’s Thunder to power up Revenge. Dawn and Conway spring a prepared trap: Buizel’s Aqua Jet draws out Elekid’s Protect, and Heracross breaks through it with Feint. Chimchar surfaces under Buizel with Dig and takes a super-effective Aqua Jet in return, Buizel steps in front of Heracross to meet Flamethrower with Water Gun in a cloud of steam, and Elekid’s Thunder Punch clashes with Megahorn. Battered but defiant, Elekid brushes off Chimchar’s concern, and then begins to glow and evolves into Electabuzz, to Paul’s delight.
Electabuzz charges Thunder. Chimchar dodges Buizel’s Water Gun and sets Heracross ablaze with Flamethrower, and Thunder sends Buizel crashing into the burning Heracross in a huge explosion. Both stand for a moment, then collapse, and Ash and Paul win the competition. Ash praises Chimchar; Paul insists Electabuzz won alone. At the ceremony Enta presents each with a Soothe Bell, and Conway remarks that the least cooperative team has won a tournament meant to celebrate teamwork. That evening Dawn vows to win her next Contest, and Paul tosses his Soothe Bell to Ash, saying he has no use for it. With the Hearthome Gym still closed, Conway suggests the Veilstone Gym, and Brock recalls that Veilstone is Paul’s hometown, so Ash and Chimchar set off for their third Badge together.
Major Events
- Season finale. Ash catches Chimchar
- Paul’s Elekid evolves into Electabuzz
- Ash and Paul win the Tag Battle Competition and a Soothe Bell each, and Paul gives his to Ash
- Next stop Veilstone City
- The last episode recorded at TAJ Productions
Captures and evolutions
Chimchar#0390 · Ash · released by Paul, it taps Ash’s Poké Ball itself
Elekid → Electabuzz#0125 · Paul · in the Tag Battle final
Trivia
- The English title plays on Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The copy from the 1 February 2008 premiere lacked the cold open, according to Dogasu’s Backpack
- The dub implies that the Tag Battle Competition is held every year
- Enta calls the semi-final a “quarterfinal”
- Electabuzz keeps its Japanese voice
- The Winter Version of By Your Side ends the season
Part of our Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.